If on Dense and Fix on Sparse (Open Thread)
When I started writing calc scripts in Essbase version 1.2, there was an important rule to follow. If on dense, and fix on sparse. This rule made a huge difference. By moving dense dimensions from the Fix statements into Fix statements reduced the passes through the database and improved performance considerably.
However, my last two Calc Script Tuning engagements have allowed me to test this again in versions 9.x and version 11.x. In both of the cases, performance was not influenced by moving the dense dimensions to if statements. A review of the log files verified that the database passes are not influenced. Oracle seems to have added intelligence that optimizes the passes through the database with having consider that when writing ifs and fixes.